In the End, the Jets Can’t Stop Tebow

The Broncos' Tim Tebow eluding the Jets' Eric Smith in scoring the winning touchdown on a 20-yard run. He passed for 104 yards and ran for 68.Credit
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

DENVER — This is what frustration looks like: Rex Ryan, standing behind a lectern, appearing to fight back tears, his eyes red, his voice quavering. This is what frustration sounds like: Darrelle Revis saying that he was shocked, over and over and over again. This is what frustration feels like: abject helplessness, as Eric Smith watched Tim Tebow sprint around the corner, watched him race to the end zone, watched him celebrate the touchdown that sank the Jets on Thursday night and, maybe, for the year.

For 55 minutes, the Jets had been moving toward a classic no-apologies victory, shoving aside all the potential excuses that threatened to disrupt them — a short week, a long flight, altitude. The Denver Broncos were starting their drive at their 5-yard line. All the Jets had to do was stop Tebow, just as they had all game, but they did not. They could not.

A mile above sea level, they reached their lowest point of the season, perhaps of the Ryan era. In adding another layer to a mythology that grows by the hour, Tebow deflated the Jets by driving the Broncos 95 yards and scoring the winning touchdown in their 17-13 victory with 58 seconds remaining.

“I actually am shocked,” Revis said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not doubting Tim Tebow’s skills or anything like that. He’s a great football player, but we felt like we had him where we wanted him.”

The Jets went ahead, 13-10, on a 45-yard field goal by Nick Folk with 9 minutes 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Tebow’s 20-yard scamper came on third-and-4, after the Jets sent an all-out blitz up the middle, a curious decision with Denver already in position for the tying field goal. The Jets pressured eight, leaving only three cornerbacks deep. Tebow rolled left and went untouched for 15 yards, evading Smith at the 5 as the worshipping crowd at Sports Authority Field at Mile High went delirious.

“It’s one of those things, you’ve got to catch him because nobody else is around,” Smith said.

Ryan refused to answer questions about the defensive alignment, perhaps a tacit acknowledgment that he — or the defensive coordinator — had called the wrong play. A few other players — Bart Scott, Calvin Pace and Plaxico Burress — declined to answer questions, period.

Tebow said: “I put that pressure on myself to try to make something happen. Ultimately, that’s the best part about being a quarterback. That’s why I’ve wanted to be a quarterback since I was 6 years old, watching guys like John Elway and Steve Young have game-winning drives. That’s what you dream as a little kid.”

For the second consecutive year, the Jets responded to a nationally televised thrashing by New England by losing their next game against an allegedly middling team. The Broncos, having won three in a row, are now 5-5. So are the Jets.

“We had high expectations,” Smith said, “and we haven’t lived up to them.”

Afterward, Ryan told his players that he still believed in them, that he believed they could win. But what? Forget about the A.F.C. East, as Ryan did after Sunday’s loss to the Patriots. The Jets have rallied around all of the adversity that they have faced over the last two seasons, believing that experience would propel them into the playoffs. The Jets know they need more than that. They need to win.

All five of their losses have come within the A.F.C., all against teams (Baltimore, Oakland, Denver, New England) that now own the all-important tiebreaker. Five days ago, the Jets were playing for the division lead, dreaming of a home playoff game, perhaps a first-round bye. Now they sit in 10th place.

“Our playoffs start next week,” Ryan said. “We’ve got to find a way to beat Buffalo.”

The defense let the Jets down on that final drive Thursday night, as it did on that final drive in New England on Oct. 9. But it received no help from a special-teams unit that endured a total collapse, shanking a punt, fumbling a kickoff and yielding a 67-yard return. And for much of the game it put the Jets in position to win in spite of Mark Sanchez, who made blunders in clock management and decision-making that mirrored his problems in Sunday’s loss to the Patriots.

He completed 24 of 40 passes, but only 10 of his last 23, and telegraphed the interception that Andre Goodman returned for a game-tying touchdown in the third quarter. He also missed Santonio Holmes streaking near the Broncos’ goal line in the second quarter, his pass deflected by Von Miller. By throwing to Dustin Keller in the waning seconds of the first half instead of taking a timeout, Sanchez cost Folk a chance to attempt a field goal from closer than 61 yards. The Jets were 3 for 14 on third down.

“We’re not perfect by any stretch, but we’re a lot better than this,” Ryan said. “And we all know it. Every man in that locker room knows it, and I know it.”

It was as if the Jets had reached a decision before the game, agreeing to play sloppy and disjointed football as long as the Broncos did, too. They dared each other not to score. The longer the game stayed tied, the more the line blurred: was the Jets’ offense that feeble, or the Broncos’ defense that sturdy? The short answer, yes. Already without LaDainian Tomlinson (knee injury), the Jets lost Shonn Greene to a rib injury on the second series, and the Jets missed them both, amassing 85 yards rushing.

Photo

Shonn Greene walking off the field after being injured in the first half. He did not return.Credit
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

It was a fitting indictment that the Jets’ lone touchdown was scored by an offensive lineman who fell on a fumble in the end zone. “I was super-excited about it,” said Matt Slauson, who punctuated the touchdown with a fierce spike, “but unfortunately it doesn’t mean anything now.”

On that drive, Sanchez completed three passes to Plaxico Burress, picking on Goodman. Fool Goodman three times, shame on him. But a fourth? Goodman jumped Burress’s route, deflecting the ball before corralling it and rumbling 26 yards.

“It was just an embarrassing play on my part,” Sanchez said, adding, “I lost the game, let the defense down. However you want to phrase it, it’s an embarrassing day by me.”

The Jets had 91 hours to recover from their humbling defeat to New England, to prepare for an unconventional offense and an unconventional quarterback. In practice, Mark Brunell simulated Tebow. In practice, the Jets drew from their Wildcat experience with Brad Smith. They preached patience and discipline, the importance of adhering to assignments, of being alert.

Operating a modified version of the ground-and-pound — the ground-and-pound-and-ground-and-pound some more — the Broncos ran for 125 yards on Thursday night, far below their average of 246 over their previous three games. After allowing 59 yards on the Broncos’ first drive, the Jets gave up 75 over Denver’s next 10 possessions, forcing seven three-and-outs.

When Tebow took over at his own 5 with 5:54 remaining, Goodman said, “everybody was kind of like, ‘watch this.’ ” And everybody did. On the first play, Jim Leonhard missed a tackle in the end zone on Eddie Royal, who squirmed away for an 8-yard gain. From there, Tebow took control. He accounted for 92 yards (57 rushing, 35 passing) on the drive, subjecting the Jets to a late and agonizing demise, precisely 13 months after they escaped here with a last-minute victory. That day, a penalty proved decisive for the Jets. On Thursday, it was Tebow, mortal for 55 minutes but dazzling in the final five.

“He did it,” Revis said. “Tim Tebow did it. He shocked me. He probably shocked a lot of people, but he did it. I’m just shocked now.”

A version of this article appears in print on November 18, 2011, on page B13 of the New York edition with the headline: In the End, the Jets Can’t Stop Tebow. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe